News, media releases, opinions and articles from the Centre for Future Work.
The Flawed Economics of Cutting Penalty Rates
It was a “sleeper” issue in the recent election, and led to the defeat of some high-profile Liberal candidates. But now the debate over penalty rates for work on weekends and public holidays shifts to the Fair Work Commission. The economic arguments in favour of cutting penalties (as advocated by lobbyists for the retail and…
Looking for “Jobs and Growth”: Six Infographics
We have prepared six shareable infographics based on material in our research paper, “Jobs and Growth… and a Few Hard Numbers,” which compared Australia’s economic performance under the respective postwar Prime Ministers. The infographics summarize several of the specific economic variables considered in the full report, dating back to 1950 (and Prime Minister Menzies) in…
Jobs and Growth… and a Few Hard Numbers
Voters typically rank economic issues among their top concerns. And campaigning politicians regularly make bold (but vague) pronouncements regarding their competence and credibility as “economic managers.” In popular discourse, economic “competence” is commonly equated with being “business-friendly.” However, the economy consists of more than just private businesses – and certainly more than the large businesses which…
Bracket Creep Is A Phoney Menace
For someone who piously bemoans an “us versus them” mentality in political culture, Treasurer Scott Morrison certainly drove a deep wedge into the social fabric with one of the centrepieces of his budget. There are four thresholds in the personal income tax system; Morrison chose to increase one of them, supposedly to offset the insidious…
6 Reasons to Be Skeptical of Debt-Phobia
In the lead-up to tomorrow’s pre-election Commonwealth budget, much has been written about the need to quickly eliminate the government’s deficit, and reduce its accumulated debt. The standard shibboleths are being liberally invoked: government must face hard truths and learn to live within its means; government must balance its budget (just like households do); debt-raters…
State Income Taxes Would Promote Inequality and Debt
The latest “big idea” on tax policy from the Coalition government is to grant independent income tax powers to the states. This would be accompanied by a devolution of funding responsibility for big-ticket services like health care, hospitals, and schools. Prime Minister Turnbull argues that forcing state governments to raise the money they spend will…